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Horoscopes | Week of November 5-11, 2007

ARIES (March 21-April 19): With the can of worms finally opened, there's no real reason for rushing to close it back up… as if its contents will somehow neatly fit back into their previous storage lot and everybody can go forward like nothing was ever sprung free. Leave the dangling conversation hanging, even if the lack of clarity or resolution is uncomfortably itchy. You have much to gain, Aries, from dwelling in this discomfort… observing particular responses rising in your bloodstream, permitting the other person to scramble or swerve in meager attempts to weasel out of the situation, and leaving the logical conclusion still undetermined until time passes and everything evolves organically. Don't entertain perpetual imaginings of the worst possible outcome, however, because nothing's written in stone. And with Venus entering your relationship-happy 7th house, you might actually be surprised at how well it eventually turns out, if you don't hurry into tucking loose corners under the mattress and calling it a day. Keep the dialogue active, no matter how badly you may want it to be 'all over' already. Accept you're not there yet. Curse, or wriggle around some—but forget about trying to leave.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Is it getting hot in here? Or are you just attaining some new (or recurrent) level of self-confidence… and thus oozing unstoppable appeal (sexual or otherwise) out your every pore? Don't argue with my assessment, Taurus, because the unfortunate side-effect of your not feeling the confidence I describe (if, in fact, that's what you're claiming) would be an unstoppable sense of envy for, or obsession with, somebody else who represents that sort of thing to you. And why, oh why, would you want to project all that delectable goodness onto another person… instead of happily owning it yourself? Contrary to what your resistant mind might tell you, it really is as simple as deciding to embrace the riskier possibilities, defiantly refusing to give a damn what anybody else thinks. That, my friend, is confidence personified. You mustn't feel obliged to explore this expanded courage on your own, by the way. In fact, bringing along a trusty pal as your wingman or -woman is a wonderful idea, so you two can invent a protective system of subtle signs and convincing excuses that'll leave you a failsafe 'out', should things go too far. With that built-in safety gauge, what could go wrong? It is actually getting hot in here—well, as hot as you allow it to get. The heat's coming from you. Brave enough to admit it?

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The smartest among us know to ask for help when we need it. 'A sign of weakness?' one wonders. Are you kidding me? Nothing is weaker than having no fucking idea which way is north… and choosing to continue wandering the desert, with neither map nor compass, while the nice lady at the information desk in front of your face flips through her tourist brochures, waiting for somebody to ask her assistance. At this juncture, Gemini, people will be even happier than ever to offer you their much-needed advice. Therefore, there's absolutely no reason to feel funny about letting 'em know you require it. Nobody is born with all the answers—and nobody knows which one offhand crack or casual remark will contain the few special words somebody else has been dying to hear, without necessarily knowing those were them until actually hearing 'em. The enchanting serendipity of interpersonal communication comes via the added (and heightened) meanings, perhaps unintended but nonetheless powerful, that we skim from the comments other people make… and include in our own always-ultimately-perplexed (but still valiant) sense-making exercises, trying to gain perspective on this chaos we call 'human incarnation'. Put your vulnerability on the line, not because you expect your good chum or the stranger next to you in the dentist's office waiting-room to be able to solve your existential dilemmas with one lyrical stanza. Do it because the process of conversational exchange reaps rewards unknowable until you launch into it. Until then, you're merely stuck in the quicksand, with only your own way-too-familiar thoughts to taunt you as you labor to lift out one leg first, and then maybe, hopefully, the other…

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Catch your breath for a spell, my overenergized Cancerian comrade. For a minute or two, a lull has entered your astro-spectrum. No, it's not like nothing is going on. But you can actually squeak out a few scattered 'homebody' days during this week—and end up damn glad you did a few weeks from now, when the fevered pitch continues to appear endless and unavoidable. Though Mars is your main man these days (for better and/or for worse), we mustn't overlook that Venus is entering your solar 4th midweek… and inviting you to take the simple pleasures of staying home, cooking a favorite comfort meal, propping up pillows on the couch, and making the magic of relaxation any other method you know how. Activities you'd ordinarily take for granted have suddenly gotten squished into the sidelines of your extraordinarily frenzied recent life. Just think of how wonderful those usual day-to-day activities sound, now that you barely have time for 'em! Overall, though, your months ahead are still strongly oriented toward making external leeway (though you might not quite know toward what ends the 'leeway' is leading you), so you can't expect your schedule to grant you many quiet-at-home hours anytime immediately soon. Enjoy bits and pieces of it this week, and they'll carry you through a while longer.

LEO (July 23-August 22): Your supposed sneaky self-talk is written all over your attempts at a poker-face, Leo… so if you actually imagine you're being rather sly in angling for what you want, please guess again. Your 'undercover' desires are pretty obvious. This is not that big a problem for you, alas, unless you dare to insult our intelligence by pretending we can't see your agenda written in neon letters across your forehead. (Incidentally, we all have agendas of one sort or another. Therefore, we couldn't rightfully judge you for wanting a particular outcome that serves your purposes. We want ours, too.) Swap 'unsuccessfully subtle' for 'modestly without artifice' in your approach toward those who may bear the power to either meet your needs or cast you aside. And once you've stated your aim plainly and frankly, steer away from constant attention to the same focus… and give them a chance to attend to it on their own time. Beware of seeming too pushy or hungry, which will play as somewhat unattractive to those who might otherwise be happy to oblige you. Should you threaten to exude the 'overkill' vibe, try diverting the conversation to more casual topics. Maybe they'll forget how badly you want what you want. But actually achieving 'sly'? Forget about it.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22): With Mercury now in the process of unscrambling himself from recent retrograde disarray, you no longer need to heed last week's advice to avoid the nitty-gritty tasks and duties associated with getting stuff done. If anything, this week should be a reaffirmation of your generally efficient way of being… a reminder that you, in fact, are the type of person who can easily manage ninety-seven different sets of careful instructions at the same time, without putting numbers in the wrong columns or flubbing up which priorities are tops. Granted, it does take Mercury a little while to start behaving perfectly normally again, so you needn't feel the pressure to handle all ninety-seven incomplete assignments in these coming seven days. But grabbing a good handful for starters will make you begin to feel normal again. And just because pragmatism is back at your disposal, that doesn't mean you're necessarily going to be in the best mood ever. Still, you can continue getting to your errands—without backing away from the parts of yourself that remain a bit difficult, dark or unresolved. In fact, allow yourself to talk openly about 'em while you're sorting through unread mail, putting papers in files or scrubbing down dirty desktops. Those who truly appreciate you will be fascinated to hear what makes you tick, simultaneously marveling at just how well you can plow through your responsibilities, regardless of your inner state.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22): Venus has never been so happy to make it to your sign, Libra… after having tempted and taunted you with her divine presence for many months from the invisible zone of your solar 12th, while carrying out her backsy-forthsy retrograde-etc. act. All of that is (thankfully, from your view at least) yesterday's news now, and, almost immediately upon her arrival mid-week, you should expect to recognize that extra-blessed sparkle to your angelic exterior aura. The littlest things you do may stunningly inspire much more dramatic responses from folks—in a way that's bound to make you quite happy. 'What exactly did I say to warrant such an adoring reaction?' you might wonder. It's not the words, of course… nor even the sassy outfit you're wearing or the fresh-faced complexion you're modeling. Plain and simply put, it's this: Your mojo is back! You've returned to your prime element! And, without even thinking or trying, you're merely working the innate Libran charm that Venus gifted you at birth. You might be so startled by this shift, at least momentarily, that you simply sit back and enjoy the fringe benefits of being everyone's favorite lad or lady. Be gentle with your fair fans as you sweet-talk 'em, since they are essentially putty in your hands. But once you grow reaccustomed to this au-courant manner of being, start considering how you're going to use this over the coming weeks. Don't waste it merely on flirting, though that's one great application. You can also find more practical usages, like wooing those with possible career opportunities for you or getting what you want from co-workers or housemates. You're crafty, aren't cha? What are you going to do with it?

SCORPIO (October 23-November 21): A new moon in your sign… a new leaf to turn over… and a new pledge to stand strong, with an adamant refusal to take one more dissatisfying turn-of-events lying down. You've played it cool long enough, Scorpio—or maybe you didn't, though probably knew you should've—and now I'm reporting you don't have to anymore. Yes, it's officially time to tell that certain somebody whatever you've been chewing on over these past few weeks. Whether it's a sinfully delicious or tempestuously difficult disclosure you're due to utter, you now possess all the clarity you needed to achieve in advance, in order to protect yourself from jumping in too quickly. From here on out, you should be ready to speak out loud… no matter what the consequences may be. (I think it's fair to warn you, though: You may not know what exactly these consequences could turn out to be. It's a crap-shoot, but one worth taking. You have nowhere else to go with it, after all.) Your only responsibility is to break the silence, with the meaty content that's been hanging dense in the air recently but not fully acknowledged. The simmering phase is over. The face-off is here.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21): As things are, you already stand out from the pack. We covered this in last week's installment, remember? All that 'drawing attention to one's self' business? Well, this week, as we all continue replacing the pieces of our scattered lives to their appropriate order (following Mercury's return to direct motion), it might be smarter to try blending somewhere into the middle of the crowd. You need the psychic room to readjust yourself to normal frequencies, without the pesky sense that folks are watching you, ready to point out any example of you altering the strong opinions you've put forth over the recent weeks. No matter if their less-than-benevolent hunger to emphasize your inconsistencies is supposedly 'justified' or not, you have every right to adjust your perspective… whether your emotions on the given subject have mellowed out, whether you've learned more information that slightly shifts the situation, or for no particular reason at all. But if there you are again at the front of the line, in obvious view, putting yourself loudly on record with your latest thoughts, you're sort of asking for it, right? They won't be able to stop from lauding your flip-flop tendencies. So make it easier on yourself, Sagittarius, and let other people create all the noise for a while, while you stand by and smilingly applaud their efforts… carrying on your own business from a couple steps behind. They'll appreciate it—and ultimately so will you.

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19): This still isn't the wisest time to hide away, Capricorn, secluded in the control-freak-fostering veal pen of 'taking care of myself just fine, thank you'… especially when the astro-forces desperately want you to take advantage of the social opportunities surrounding you everywhere you go. Over these coming few weeks, drawing on savvy networking efforts is a particularly ripe strategy for expanding your possibilities—if you can get past any 'distaste' you might associate with being so blatantly purposeful in your contacting. Networking now could indeed yield you a good lead or two, which might easily feed directly into the next big break. Will you permit this advantageous window to pass you by? I surely hope not. Please overcome your resistance to calling up casual pals or acquaintances you barely know… anybody who will know who you are (even if it takes a moment of explaining your degrees-of-mutual-affliliation) and may have a juicy 'in'. This is simply the way the game is played, and there's nothing wrong with it. The worst possible result you'd receive would be an unfriendly welcome (in which case you know that the person you contact isn't really an ally) or a moment's humbling embarrassment (which, like everything, passes before you know it). But you'll never know just how far you might be able to get unless, of course, you try. Scan your address book, your mobile phone, your buddy list or the social circles in your head for the richest connections you've got. Then, get in touch.

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18): What's it all for, Aquarius? Why do you try so hard? Why do you care about certain issues so deeply? Can you recall the self-stated purpose for why you behave as you do, treating 'this and that' rather seriously while dismissing 'the other' as somewhat irrelevant to your life? This is not a call for you to reinvent your basic framework for assigning meaning in your life. On the contrary, remind yourself the bottom-line values you've already decided upon… and realign your everyday actions so that you're focused on the right aspects of life—'right' according to you, and only you—and so you stop stressing about those parts that, at the end of the day and your lifetime, really don't matter that much. Hopefully, this act of checking in will help you screw your head back on as straight as possible… and keep you from squandering your precious psychic energy on vampire-like projects or situations that others (i.e., specific individuals, family indoctrination, society at large) have tried convincing you are more important than they are. If you want to move ahead in a manner that's appropriate to your unique path, you'll have to push the limits of conventional respectability… and follow the inner voice that, though possibly unsure of what the immediate results may be, knows what's going to turn you in the proper direction. Such big risks (at least by traditional standards) may make you and/or someone else very nervous. Alas, you have no choice but to gamble safety—unless you're content to sell your overarching prospects short, for marginal acceptance from folks or institutions who barely respect your avant-garde attitudes anyhow.

PISCES (February 19-March 20): As I'm reading the week's Venus-Pluto square across your 7th/10th axis, your career (or public-world) situation is inextricably tied up with the behaviors and beliefs of a certain someone else… and you'll need to be clear (with yourself, most importantly) about what constitutes your best interests, as opposed to what will keep the air between you two smooth and silky-soft. First off, I'm moved to warn you about flirtations with co-workers. Some folks may subscribe to the 'don't shit where you eat' school of not dating people you work with… while others may, consciously or not, adore the drama. But if there is something bubbling up between you and a professional colleague, don't just let it happen. Before it gets to that point, decide in advance whether it's worth risking your job for. The answer could be in fact be 'yes', in which case: Go for it! However, don't use this attraction as a means to try getting ahead (e.g., seducing the boss so he/she will give you a raise), as that's a disaster waiting to happen. Now, if it's not about romantic stirrings, your circumstance may instead involve either (1) a peer's extra-strong opinion about some work matter unduly influencing your own take on it or (2) your romantic partner's extra-strong opinion about your work itself unduly influencing your own relationship to it. In these cases, you might pause to second-guess their stance—not because they're wrong, but mainly to affirm whether yours lines up with theirs neatly, or if you have a markedly different view. The main point I'm getting at here, Pisces, is to separate your relationship with this certain someone else from your own career position, at least in your mind… simply so you have a self-defined concept of what's what, rather than swallowing someone else's story without question.